Best Weapons for crew damage?

[Supreme Admiral Brenton]

SO.
Got about 27 hours in this game so far and about to restart for the third time (so i can do even better than the last hah)
And im curious as to how i should build my next ship?

Last game was the Dragoon Cruiser which i loved but this time im thinking of instead going for the Degla Megalift for those sweet extra component slots after just unlocking it.
Iv been building my previous playthrough more towards boarding. Insert, Spray the halls with ferocious crossfire, repeat.
And im just wondering what the best weapons to weaken the enemy crew with before i insert would actually be? Iv been using the plasma cannons which do more rad damage than hull damage with some lance backups for if i do need to shred the hull but im wondering if there are more efficient ways to do it as towards they still had almost full health where i stopped my last play through.

Range is not an issue really as im happy to soften up then move into range 2 or 3 for boarding. Just want to take out as much crew damage as possible before i do to save time.

Also everyones thoughts on boarding? what are the pro's to it REALLY iv been starting to notice as opposed to out right obliteration?
Or is it more economically viable to just Blow them to bits And then salvage whats left with the Orchestrated salvage trait from the mechanic? (Does Salvage increasing Ship items such as the salvage bay Also boost it or is that just for orbital?)

Thanks to anyone who can help clear these questions up for me. There were others about buying a smaller faster ship to run missions faster and such to save time but i should be able to sort those myself.
Really enjoying this game so far and cant wait to continue heh. Thank you.

[ibanix]

> And im just wondering what the best weapons to weaken the enemy crew with before i insert would actually be?

Plasma cannons. Radiation damage causes only 33% applied damage to the hull, and 200% to crew and components. Void damage is the follow up at 50% and 150% respectively. The large-sized Interceder plasma cannons are best for crew-only damage, as they have very large radiation damage relative to standard damage, and a higher cripple rate of 50%. The small plasma cannons are the worst.

An alternative option is to choose weapons with high crippling rates (eg Torpedoes) and add multiple modules that increase crippling rate such that you end up with a very high chance of crippling. Both the Aftershocks and Electrical Fire crippling effects of Torpedoes will cause crew/component damage. The idea here is to fire as many small high-chance crippling attacks as possible, to stack many crippling effects.

[ibanix]

Actually, I'm not sure there are modules that increase crippling rate. Anyone know?

[Trese Brothers]

There are no modules that increase crippling rate, only critical rate.

[davea]

Most people say many small damage, high crippling attacks is the right approach. I use the level 3 torpedo when I am conscripting. There are talents to decrease damage which go along with this, pirate 5 barrel roll and commander 15 warning shot.

There are a good number of post-boarding talents you can use, since one talent can only be used once per ship combat. Try to get several which do crew damage like crossfire; assassin and sniper have some. Also try the morale damage talents. In one particular boarding run, it's more effective to concentrate on either morale or crew; don't mix them.

[Yulius]

I played the sword cutter on hard last playthrough. With 2 medium plasma, 4 defense pattern matrix, 2 c-tak interceptor system and 2 pilote module the thing was unkillable through all eras. I got all famous bounty hunters and not one scratched the ship.
I mostly did crew boarding, the weapons were effective, maybe too much. In the end i got bored, all crews fight were too easy, and ship combat was too easy.

The game seems not really well balanced after first era, as once you stack the numbers in your favor, nothing can touch you even with a ship such as the sword cutter, so i cannot imagine with bigger ships with much higher crew pools.
In the end it's not as much what is most effective, but what are the fastest weapon to finish the combat as you know the issue will be a win.

Game is still really fun and worth playing, i just think it's best not to be too effective as it'll kill any kind of challenge in game and remove most of the fun.

[davea]

sounds like you are ready to play on impossible difficulty!

[mark.r.hendrickson]

I suspect boarding pays more in the long run over salvaging, but it sort of depends.

There are talents to increase salvage, as you noticed. Yes, the salvaging component works in this regard.

However, there are also talents to buff ransom.

And of course if you board you can also get the cargo. Assuming you can store and sell what you steal, and that you are okay with the reputation hit, you can make some good money this way.

Cheers.

[sam8519]

Originally posted by davea:

Most people say many small damage, high crippling attacks is the right approach. I use the level 3 torpedo when I am conscripting. There are talents to decrease damage which go along with this, pirate 5 barrel roll and commander 15 warning shot.

There are a good number of post-boarding talents you can use, since one talent can only be used once per ship combat. Try to get several which do crew damage like crossfire; assassin and sniper have some. Also try the morale damage talents. In one particular boarding run, it's more effective to concentrate on either morale or crew; don't mix them.

I think this hits the nail on the head. It's not just about which piece/part/component, but how you train your crew. Any of the weapons systems can work depending on your approach toward the enemy. Theoretically, if you wanted to soften them up first, think about skills/cards that keep them out of ideal range of their weapons. When I build a "rush" ship, I usually care more about buffing my crew (and making sure I'm watching that I don't accidentally spend a bunch of time on a soldier with a super low fortitude number, etc...) I like to downgrade my weapons systems in favor of adding modules that allow me to dictate the course of the battle. I know that for my playstyle, dealing boarding damage is way more consistent than trying to balance ship to ship combat w/ crew damage. (imho)

It all comes down to what's most fun for you! Let us know if you come up with a great strat!